Obviously, if you take another drug from the family of the fluoroquinolones after you have already had an adverse event to a fluoroquinolone, there is a good chance that you could have another adverse event that could be worse than the initial one.

There are some other pharmaceuticals that are close cousins in their chemical makeup and whose side effect profiles are similar that could pose a cross adverse event susceptibility.  Those pharmaceuticals are from anti-malarial family.  For me information read: Cumulative Toxicity of the Fluoroquinolones

The claims of being re-floxed from foods and other substances are questionable at best, and may accusations are subjects of controversy and internet hearsay.  The reason for this is simply well-meaning people attempting to explain something that they do not fully understand. Before that statement upsets your apple cart, let me explain.

The amount of biochemical pathways in the body is astronomical.  If you doubt me, please follow this link and have a quick peek.  http://biochemical-pathways.com/#/map/1

When you have an adverse event to the fluoroquinolones your homeostasis becomes thrown off and many biochemical pathways become unstable or outright damaged.  When this happens seemingly innocuous substances can easily unbalance these already disrupted pathways causing a return of unpleasant symptoms.

These innocuous substances could have been foods that you easily tolerated before, or it could be something more substantial such as another pharmaceutical.  What is happening is that these substances are putting pressure on a damaged or strained biochemical pathway causing a return of symptoms.

Often people attribute these flares as eating foods, or drinking water containing FQ’s or taking a substance that is causing the FQ to be released from the adipose tissue (fat).   Due to the parts per million distribution factors or an understanding of partially decomposed FQ molecules in adipose tissues, I have never seen any hard evidence (research) support these attributions.

Before you get upset and start telling me that you have talked to people who have been refloxed from food just remember one thing.  Over the last decade or so, I have talked to literally hundreds of folks.  I know one guy who ate at KFC, five days a week after he recovered from floxing or another lady who ate farmed salmon at least twice a week, etc…

Now don’t misunderstand me, these sensitivities are not in your head. Due to the extensive damage that FQ’s can cause, it is entirely possible to become sensitive to other drugs (through inhibition or damage to the CYP system in the liver) or  foods (through damage to the gut), even chocolate 🙁 .  So, yes, it is entirely possible to have other substances cause a negative reaction or symptom in the body, however these sensitivities are generally very unique to the individual.

Keep in mind that in medicine, all treatments are probabilistic.  This simply means that each individual will have treatments to which they do not respond even though others do. In general, it seems Floxies seem to tolerate supplements and natural treatments at a much higher proportion than pharmaceuticals, but pharmaceuticals are more powerful so their effects are felt easier.   It seems that those who suffer neurological issues post floxing develop idiosyncratic reactions to previously tolerated medications and supplements more that those having only musculoskeletal adverse events.

Am I saying that there are no FQ residues in our foods?  No, not at all.  There are all kinds of drug residues in our current food chain, unfortunately.  Just use common sense and do what you believe to be the best for your body.

I do believe that a person should try to be as wholesome (avoiding over processed animal meat and foods that could have higher FQ tissue concentrations) and eat pure as you can and avoid many of the synthetic substances that are in our diets today.  However, too much hearsay and fear about the consumption of food causes undue stress and worry in some individuals, which in itself can become a problem.  I have actually seen that far more than actual claims of refloxing from food.

Remember, when very sensitive, the slightest thing can throw us off and it can be quite different for each person.

Please read my other FAQ on “Why do we have cycles?”

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